I See You've Called in Dead (2025) - John Kenney

 

To say that I've been overwhelmed by life lately is a gross understatement. We are still in the early stages of dealing with the aftermath of my brother-in-law's sudden accidental death on June 23, and that is likely to remain the case for the next several months. Because we do not live particularly near any of the locations we need to meet with contractors, lawyers, insurance people, and public authorities, we have been on the road an average of twice a week for the past five weeks...something like nine trips and about 2,000 miles at this point. 

But in a case of serendipity, the right book for the moment hollered out to me a few days ago. I was looking around my library website for something to read and stumbled upon "Libby Reads Global" and the chance to read John Kinney's I See You Called in Dead immediately. No waiting list, just borrow the book and begin reading it along with thousands of others around the world at the same time. The timing was perfect.

It's the story of an obituary writer named Bud Stanley who is going through a traumatic midlife crisis at the age of 44. Bud's wife has left him for a much more interesting and successful man, and Bud is back into the modern dating scene. Let's just say that's not going particularly well for him. He bottoms out one night when he is waiting for his blind date to show up - only to learn that she brings her ex-boyfriend along with her to tell Bud that they have decided to get back together. Bud is humiliated by the experience, goes home to get drunk on his own, and ends up writing his own obituary as a joke. The problem with that little exercise is that he decides to post the obituary on his newspaper's live website. 

Of course, the paper wants to fire Bud, but they learn that it is illegal to fire a "dead person." Until they can work out that little snag in their system, Bud is suspended without pay, and is own his own. With all of that free time on his hands, Bud begins, along with a couple of friends of his, to attend the wakes and funerals of total strangers. I know...let the hilarity begin.

As the author puts it, Bud Stanley is "an obituary writer who is afraid to live." This is his chance. As Bud delves into the lives of the strangers whose funerals he attends, he learns more and more about life and what it means to be human. Along the way, the rest of us get to meet the fascinating people in Bud's inner circle: Tim, his wheelchair-bound best friend and mentor; Clara, the woman who first drew Bud into attending all those funerals; Leo, the little boy down the block who truly believes that he and Bud are best friends (and maybe they are); and Tuan, Bud's gay obituary co-writer who helps Bud adjust to life more than he knows. 

"How rude of the dead to die. How selfish. Wherever they are, no pain, in eternal darkness or wondrous afterlife. And here we are, tears streaming down our cheeks, the knotted stomach and clammy palms, a feeling akin to falling, in a dream that won't end."

Don't let this quote mislead you. True, much of I See You Called in Dead is quite poignant - but it is often laugh-out-loud funny, too. The whole package is quite inspirational, in fact, because it's a reminder of just how short life really is, and how easy it is to waste it.

I think you'll like this one a lot.